Soda Popinski (Russian: Сода Попинский), originally known as Vodka Drunkenski (Russian: Водка Дрункенский), made his first appearance in the arcade as the "Champion of the USSR" in the 1985 game Super Punch-Out!!. As his name suggests, he drinks soda on a regular basis (alcohol in his original "Super Punch-Out!!" appearance) in between bouts of incessant laughter. The theme music played for Soda Popinski is a quote from The Volga Boatmen's Song, a Russian folk song.

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Soda appeared as Vodka Drunkenski in Super Punch-Out!! as the third opponent. He is fought very similarly to Super Macho Man, except that his speed and reflexes are higher (at the expense of lower attacking power) and utilized a special punching move called 'Drunken Punch'. He also uses hooks against the player very often but rarely uses uppercuts. He's a lot tougher than the two previous opponents and has really high defense but he rarely blocks the player's punches. He'll use a lot of attacks which are hard to avoid and that makes him one of the hardest opponents in the game.

Drunkenski made his second appearance in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, though he was renamed "Soda Popinski" due to the aforementioned controversies. In the 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System game Punch-Out!!, Soda is the #4 ranked competitor in the World Circuit. Interestingly, despite removing the alcoholic reference from his original identity from the arcade game Super Punch-Out!!, some of his quotes suggest that he still drinks alcohol, rather than soda. He is known for his infamous laugh, which was also used in the Game Over sequence in Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link. The laugh is also used by Bald Bull, Mr. Sandman and Super Macho Man.

He can be beaten with basic 'stick and move' tactics, but with his hard hits and great defense, he can be quite a challenge for newer competitors. Popinski throws massive uppercuts, quick hooks, the trotting triple jab and his sporadic jab, which has no warning before it is unleashed. He is weak to star punches, and will automatically go down when hit by one with precise timing. However, he is also able to dodge star punches, making landing one a challenge. He is a palette swap of Super Macho Man.

Soda Popinski returned in Punch-Out!! for the Wii and has been promoted to the #3 contender of the World Circuit, right before Bald Bull. In his bio, he is shown to train by carrying large boxes of soda up a snowy mountain, presumably to his private training gym, and to be constantly drinking soda while training. He is voiced by Ukrainian actor Ihor Mota, who speaks legitimate Russian in the game. He is the only character in the game to have an effective use of the between-rounds taunts. A cutscene shows that Soda regains health by drinking a bit of his bottle. The faster you skip the cutscene, the less health he'll recover.

A chance for you to get a Star Punch from him is where he takes out a soda to try and drink it. If you knock it away, it earns a Star Punch, but at the expense of Soda having to use his Soda Fury (Uppercut combo) technique. Soda will also use the Soda Fury when he gets hit by a Star Punch (that doesn't result in a knockdown) or if he has to get up from a knockdown drinking a drop of soda he keeps handy at all times. However, when he gets knocked down five times, the soda is completely dry, causing him to be KO'd. Regardless, Soda will be defeated after getting knocked down a total of five times.. In his other KO animation he will struggle to grasp his bottle as it rolls out of the ring, which is triggered if defeated with jabs while stunned, a star-punch that results in his fifth knock-down or by TKO.

After two knockdowns, he changes his hook to a side-stepping hook (identified by when he moves left). Little Mac will get hurt if he tries to dodge both of Soda's hooks (both the standing and the side-stepping hook) in the wrong direction. Popinski is presumably immune to hooks because he only allows one hook in a stun combo. If you lose to him, he will shake his fizzy soda causing it to spray everywhere and celebrate with a cossack dance.

Stars:

Punch the soda bottle from the hand that's holding it.

Use a right jab when he uses his left hook. (It's more strict in Title Defense)

Let him drink and as he centers himself, hit his gut. The timing is hard but can be used as an instant KD.

When he uses the left hook, dodge it, then do a delayed hook for a star.

Jab him when he laughs during his taunt.

Moves:

Hook: A fast hook. It can be dodged right or ducked, or intercepted with a jab for a star.

Uppercut: A fast, powerful uppercut. Done with either his left or right hand. His left is slightly faster than his right.

Taunt: Soda Pop stands up straight and laughs at you. Jab him when he laughs for a star, or use a star punch for an instant knockdown.

Soda Drink: Popinski pulls out a bottle of soda and drinks some of it, refilling his stamina. The bottle can be punched out of his hand before he drinks, which aborts the move and earns you a star, but also engages Popinski's Soda Fury.

Soda Fury: Soda uses this move whenever he's hit by a star punch that doesn't knock him down, after he comes back up from a knockdown, or has his soda bottle punched out of his hand. He throws three to four uppercuts quickly, and becomes vulnerable on the last one.

Side-Stepping Hook: Soda replaces his normal hook with this move after 2 minutes. It's mostly the same, except if must be dodged left instead of right. It can also be ducked.

Instant Knockdowns:

Do a hook, delayed jab, then a star punch. Once that's done, it requires another star to repeat it.

Use a star punch on his taunt. Strangely, it gives you a star after knocking him down. As before, requires another star to repeat the trick.

Soda Popinski returns in Title Defense Mode to defeat Mac and get the World Circuit belt. His appearance changes very little as the only difference is that his gloves, pants, and boots have turned purple.

According to his Title Defense video, scientists created a specially-formulated soft drink-like elixir to make him stronger. As a result, the soda he drinks increases his speed and power with every drink he's consumed, but makes him more vulnerable with every consecutive miss. The more times you dodge his attacks, the more jabs you can land on him, starting at two and going up to eighteen. Every time he gets up from a knock down and after his Soda Fury, he'll also appear slightly more red due to the soda, indicating the toll it's taking on his body the more he drinks, making it harder to see when his body flashes red, and possibly referencing previously mentioned controversies about him representing the "drunken Russian" stereotype and how alcohol can cause flushing (aka Alcohol Flushing Reaction).

He also has a completely new attack scheme and some new punches. He's also much stronger and faster than in the previous fight. He still will drink soda to restore his stamina, both in the fight with his move, and during intermissions. He once again gains more stamina the longer the player watches the intermission. If you lose to the TD version of him, he will juggle three bottles, throw two bottles up in the air, drinks from one, and gets hit on the head with the other two. Your best bet to defeating him is to practice dodging his moves and timing your punches right to get a star, since the windows of opportunity are few and far between when facing him.

Stars:

Punch the soda bottle from the hand that's holding it.

Use a right jab when he uses his left hook. The timing gets stricter as he gets faster.

Let him drink and the moment he starts to center himself, hit his gut. The timing is very precise, but it can lead to an instant KD trick.

When he uses the left hook, dodge it, then do a delayed hook for a star.

Jab him when he laughs during his taunt.

Moves:

Hook: Similar to his contender hook, but it's faster and stronger. It can be dodged right or ducked, or intercepted with a jab for a star.

Uppercut: A faster, more powerful uppercut.

Taunt: Soda Pop stands up straight and laughs at you. Jab him when he laughs for a star, or use a star punch for an instant knockdown.

Soda Drink: Much the same as his Contender drink, though the window of opportunity to punch his bottle is shorter, and continues getting shorter with each knockdown.

Soda Fury: Soda uses this move whenever he's hit by a star punch that doesn't knock him down, after he comes back up from a knockdown, or has his soda bottle punched out of his hand. This time, he can throw between three and six uppercuts, depending on his number of knockdowns, what happened to start the Fury, how many stars were used in a Star Punch, and a bit of random chance. It's also harder to tell which punch is the last one.

Side-Stepping Hook: Soda replaces his normal hook with this move after his second knockdown. He can now use either hand to punch. The attack can be dodged to the opposite side it's thrown on, or ducked.

Instant Knockdown: With a stun capacity of at least 5 Jabs, have the last hit of the stun be a Star Punch. Requires an additional star if the trick is to be used, again.

More Punching Trick: Every time you stun Soda Popinski and finish a stun, the number of punches you can deal increases +1. This allows you to deal massive damage off of one stun, but the counter resets when you get hit. The number of bonus punches you can do is equal to the following:

Stun Finished + Delayed Hook + Delayed Jab

Due to this, it is possible to deal significantly more damage than the base stun allows. You can also do this in Contender by using at least ONE hook in a stun HOWEVER this resets when he gets up.

Stun Limits:

Both his hooks and uppercuts: 2+amount of stuns you have finished.

Soda Fury: Same as his hooks and uppercuts, but it has a minimum limit of 5 punches (so you can always get the instant knockdown).

In this game, Soda Popinski appears as an unlockable trophy if the player clears Crazy Orders after 12 turns. He has two different descriptions depending on your console region.

NA: This Russian boxer just can't get enough fizzy soda. He takes cases with him everywhere, even into the ring! He'll down a bottle before a match and even try for sips during your fight! He's not just thirsty- that soda helps him recover from your blows! It's best to interrupt him, but he probably won't appreciate that.

PAL: A Russian boxer who loves the delicious taste of soda. He brings whole cases of it to the ringside to drink before each match. And, er...during matches as well. In fact, even after he's been knocked out, he still gropes around for his soda bottle! Try not to let him drink too much, though - that soda helps him recover from your blows!

(If after a knockdown, he goes for his bottle and it turns out to be empty) "нет... (Nyet...)" meaning "No..."

(Before new round in Title Defense) *drinks some of his soda* "Ещё пару бутылочек... (Yeshchë paru butylochek...)" *takes two more and drinks them both at one time* meaning "Just a couple of bottles..."

He and Super Macho Man both have similar body types, boxing outfits, and fighting styles. This may be a result of the two always being palette swaps of each other in the 2D games where they both appeared.

It was at one point believed that Soda Popinski would be removed from the Wii version of Punch-Out due to an interview with Next Level Games saying that they would end up removing one of the characters due to said character's "inability to dissuade controversial material" (referring to how Soda Popinski, despite the name change, still had connotations of being the "drunk Russian" stereotype).

In Title Defense, Soda has a different animation between rounds if he has taken heavy damage. In it, instead of just drinking two bottles at once, he pulls up two entire cases and guzzles them all at once. Allowing this cutscene to play out will cause Soda to regain some health at the start of the next round.

He is the only opponent known to have two ways of acquiring a star using an uppercut: Using an uppercut as he is finished with his soda and using an uppercut on his taunt (which also knocks him down). His left hook is simply too fast to uppercut it for a star, and if you did it early, whether it be Contender or Title Defense, he gets scared or dodges it.

Soda Popinski is the only opponent who can heal between rounds.

Soda Popinski, Bald Bull, King Hippo and Bear Hugger are the only bald boxers in Punch-Out!! (Wii).

In the PAL version, his Title Defense version can never be knocked out, which means the player has to TKO him.

In Title defense mode, after each knockdown, he gets redder and faster. He also gets a little slower after each round.

Soda Popinski and Mr. Sandman are the only two World Circuit boxers not to attack the referee.

Despite his angry and aggressive behavior, Soda Popinski is the only World Circuit boxer to not even touch the referee by any means.

Soda Pop, along with Bear Hugger, is the only southpaw [left-handed fighter] in Punch-Out!! (Wii).

Soda Popinski is also one of only three boxers to utilize the southpaw stance in the entire "Punch-Out!!" series. The other two are Bear Hugger and a character from Super Punch Out!!, Rick Bruiser.

Excluding the bonus fighters, Soda Popinski is one of the only four boxers in the NES game to never hold a title in any of his appearances. He shares this along with Glass Joe, Von Kaiser and Great Tiger.

Soda Popinski's Title Defense appearance is similar to how he appeared in Super Punch-Out!! (Arcade).

In Punch-Out!! (Wii), if one listens closely, during Soda Popinski's KO cutscene, one can hear that the bottles he drinks out of are made of plastic.